It was winter break of junior year. Dearborn High School (DHS) senior midfielder, Jenna Hamieh, had been playing on the varsity soccer level since her sophomore year. She just came off her first season playing on the varsity level. While most sophomores typically play on the junior varsity team, she stood out as one of the few to make it to varsity, impressing many with her skill and determination. Head coach Tony Ventura, now in his fourth year, praised her versatility and saw clear potential for her to play at the collegiate level. She made the season even more special by sharing the court with some of her closest friends, such as Senior Captian Sarina Farhat and juniors Noor Farhat and Sienna Mroue.
Coach Ventura noted Hamieh’s dedication to the sport from a young age.
“She has played soccer her whole life. I watched her grow in the sport since she was little,” Ventura said.
The 2022-2023 team had just gone 12-6-2 (12 wins, 6 losses, and 2 ties) and had won a district postseason game. With that, an exciting and dominant junior seemed inevitable for Hamieh to experience.
“I want to quit,” Hamieh told herself. “I don’t want to do this anymore.”
Hamieh said she was stressed out from the workload.
“I was taking multiple AP courses, like AP (Government) and AP (English Language and Composition),” said Hamieh. “I also had a lot of pressure that I put on myself to be a better soccer player, and so all in all I think you can say it was just a lot of issues coming up all at once.”
Understandably, the stress began taking a toll on Hamieh.
“I felt burnt out, and I didn’t know if I wanted to keep playing this sport,” Hamieh said.
This was the first time she had ever seriously considered turning away from soccer. Hamieh didn’t share these thoughts with anyone.
“I told myself, I only have a few weeks to privately decide since soccer is a spring sport,” Hamieh said.
She described the week’s break away from soccer. At first, she enjoyed the relief, however, the more the days passed, the more she began missing the small things that she never really noticed before. Hamieh was only then able to make a firm decision.
“No question, I’m never going to leave this now,” Hamieh said. “I was missing the little things about soccer that I didn’t even really realize I used to love, like my games that I would rewatch when I was bored,” she said. “That actually helped me make the decision that I should not ever think about quitting soccer.”
Being a soccer player was a huge piece of her identity for a long period, and she knew these small challenges would eventually get easier.
“I read something about how temporary problems should not lead to permanent decisions, and that hit home,” Hamieh said.
To get rid of these temporary problems, she decided that she had to make a schedule.
“I created a schedule to deal with all these responsibilities of academics, soccer, and more,” said Hamieh.
Hamieh reflected on her junior year as one of the most enjoyable parts of her soccer journey. She never had to question whether she wanted to continue playing during that season and described her team atmosphere as incredible. She said she wouldn’t trade the experience for anything.
“Junior year was super fun and to be honest, I never even thought about my decision to consider whether I would keep playing soccer or not,” Hamieh said. “My team was fantastic, and while the season didn’t end the way we all wanted it to, there was nothing that I would switch out the experience for.”
Senior captain Sarina Farhat and head coach Ventura both emphasized her importance to the team, noting that her presence made a significant impact on and off the field. Farhat described her as a major asset, while Ventura added that without her, the team would have not only lost valuable experience, but a strong leader.
“She’s a very huge asset on and off the field. The team would be different without her,” Farhat said.
“We would look different because we would lose her experience on the field and leadership,” Ventura said.
Hamieh also ended up making the All-District team, adding to her great season. This year, she committed and signed with the University of Michigan-Dearborn, where she received a scholarship to continue playing the sport that she has been playing for over half her life.
Hamieh expressed her deep passion for the sport, saying she has no intention of stepping away from soccer anytime soon.
“I love soccer, and I don’t plan on leaving it until I don’t have a choice,” Hamieh said.
